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Monday, 31 January 2011

Security developments in Yemen

Yemen is trying to quell a resurgent wing of al Qaeda which has stepped up attacks on Western and regional targets in the poor Arabian Peninsula state, a neighbour of oil giant Saudi Arabia.

The cash-strapped government is also trying to cement a truce with Shi'ite rebels to end a civil war in the north while working to subdue separatist rebellion in the south.

Following are security developments in Yemen in the past month (* denotes new or updated item):

* HABILAYN, JAN 31 - A Yemeni woman in the flashpoint southern city of Habilayn is wounded by a rocket-propelled grenade, a security official says.

* RADFAN, JAN 30 - A retired Yemeni soldier dies as he tries to plant a landmine near a military base in south Yemen. Security officials said he blew himself up as he was planting the mine. Other media reports said he was fired on by soldiers as he tried to plant the bomb.

* HABILAYN, JAN 30 - A group of armed men kidnaps two Yemeni soldiers as they drive to capital Sanaa, a local security official says. The kidnappers escape and are hiding somewhere in the mountains of Habilayn, he says.

* MARIB, Jan 29 - A group of armed men attack a police vehicle, killing one and injuring four, a local official says, adding that the group is believed to belong to al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).

* DUBAI, Jan 29 - The deputy leader of AQAP urges Sunnis in Yemen to take up arms against Shi'ite Houthis, saying they are a danger to Sunnis and urging them to take up arms to protect themselves, according to SITE Intelligence Group.

* JAWF, Jan 26 - A small group of armed tribesmen attack and wound the deputy governor of al-Jawf province, a Jawf tribal leader and two others as they drive to capital Sanaa, a security source said, citing tribal conflict as the motive behind the assasination attempt.

* HADRAMOUT, Jan 26 - Gunmen kill four Yemeni soldiers and one postal official as they ambush an army-escorted postal truck. The men, suspected of being from a local al Qaeda unit, escape with $50,000 dollars.

* LAWDAR, Jan 25 - Yemen security forces arrest five men after they attempted to attack a police patrol car in Lawdar, a city in the flashpoint Abyan province, the Interiori Ministry says, citing suspicions they have ties to "terrorist elements." The defence ministry website says one of the detained men, Amin al-Mukasar, is a leader in al Qaeda's Yemen-based wing.

* MA'ARIB, Jan 25 - The deputy head of forensics in the central province of Ma'arib dies from gunshot wounds on Tuesday, a day after being attacked by militants shooting automatic rifles from a vehicle, Yemen's interior ministry says. A soldier who chased the gunmen is wounded, and the attackers escape.

* ADEN, Jan 23 - Police shoot dead a protester in southern Aden, a regular site of separatist unrest that has been rocked by anti-government protests in the past week, residents say.

* LAWDAR, Jan 23 - A suspected al Qaeda gunman shoots dead a soldier in Lawdar, a district in the southern province of Abyan, a local security official says.

ADEN, Jan 11 - Gunmen attack a vehicle carrying a military commander and injure him in the southern province of Lahj.

SANAA, Jan 11 - The United States and Yemen face a common threat from al Qaeda but have a partnership that goes beyond security issues, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says during a visit to the Yemeni capital.

(Reporting by Mohammed Mokhashaf in Aden, and Mohammed Ghobari and Mohamed Sudam in Sanaa; Compiled by Gulf bureau)